Ed Sheeran becomes first UK artist since 2012 to sell one million copies of an album in a calendar year

Ed Sheeran has become the first UK artist since Emeli Sande to sell a million copies of an album in the UK in a calendar year.

The singer's second album X has passed the milestone of one million sales in the UK in a calendar year, making it the first album to do so since Sande's Our Version Of Events in 2012,reports the Official Charts Company.

Even more impressively, Sande's album was released in February of 2012, while Sheeran's X (which you can preview on the right of the page) only came out in late June this year.

The only other artists to achieve similar accomplishments in the last five years are Adele, Take That and Susan Boyle.

Earlier this month, Sheeran announced that he will be playing three shows at Wembley Stadium to bring his touring in support of X to a close.

The singer will headline the 80,000 stadium on Sunday 12th July as well as Saturday 11th July and Friday 10th July, meaning he will play to 240,000 people over the three nights, a total that exceeds the attendance of any festival in the UK, including Glastonbury and Reading Festival.